Archery dart frame

ABSTRACT

Described herein are devices, systems and methods for creating an archery dart game using a dart frame affixed to an archery target of various shapes and configurations for use with a bow and arrow, throwing axes, or other thrown or shot implements to allow the users to enjoy the game of darts in a nontraditional manner in the outdoors or other venues.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent App. No. 63/162,701 filed on Mar. 18, 2021, titled Archery Dart Frame.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein is generally directed to dart board frames that may be shaped and applied to a host of background supports such as archery targets, animal targets, building walls, etc.

BACKGROUND

The game of darts has its origin in France. The original target in the game is likely to have been a section of a tree trunk, its circular shape and concentric rings giving rise to the standard dartboard pattern in use today. An older name for a dartboard is “butt”; the word comes from the French word but, meaning “target” or “goat” The earliest dart boards were made from a 7-9″ diameter wooden board consisting of concentric colored circular bands and a center bullseye. Point values for the bands decrease as they move outward from the center.

The standard numbered point system is attributed to Lancashire carpenter Brian Gamlin, who devised it in 1896 to penalize inaccuracy, though this is disputed. Many configurations have been used, varying by time and location. In particular, the Yorkshire and Manchester Log End boards differ from the standard board in that they have no triple, only doubles and a bullseye. The Manchester board is smaller than the standard, with a playing area of only 25 cm (9.8 in) across, with double and bull areas measuring just 4 mm (0.16 in). The London Fives board is another variation, with only 12 equal segments, with the doubles and trebles being a quarter of an inch (6.35 mm) wide.

Mathematically, removing the rotational symmetry by placing the “20” at the top, there are 19!, or 121,645,100,408,832,000 possible dartboards. Many different layouts would penalize a player more than the current setup; however, the current setup actually does the job rather efficiently. There have been several mathematical papers published that consider the “optimal” dartboard.

Before World War I, pubs in the United Kingdom had dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm. But darts pocked the surface of elm such that it was common for a hole to develop around the treble twenty. The other problem was that elm wood needed periodic soaking to keep the wood soft.

In 1935, chemist Ted Leggatt and pub owner Frank Dabbs began using the century plant, a type of agave, to make dartboards. Small bundles of sisal fibers of the same length were bundled together. The bundles were then compressed into a disk and bound with a metal ring. This new dartboard was an instant success. It was more durable and required little maintenance. Furthermore, darts did little or no damage to the board; they simply parted the packed fibers when they entered the board.

Quality dartboards are still made of sisal fibers from East Africa, Brazil, or China; less expensive boards are sometimes made of cork or coiled paper. According to the Darts Regulation Authority, a regulation board is 451 mm (17¾ in) in diameter and is divided into 20 radial sections. Each section is separated with metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal.

The game of darts is, generally, played indoors and requires a specific backdrop for the game. However, other variations are desired and feasible. Accordingly, it is an object of the present disclosure to provide a dart frame that may be used outdoors with various targets and back drops without the need of sisal fiber or other complicated backing.

Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such a document is available as prior art to the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

The above objectives are accomplished according to the present disclosure by providing in a first embodiment an archery dart frame for converting a target into a dart board construct as shown and described herein.

In a further embodiment, the current disclosure provides methods for retrofitting an archery target to serve as a dart frame as shown and described herein.

These and other aspects, objects, features, and advantages of the example embodiments will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of example embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

An understanding of the features and advantages of the present disclosure will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description that sets forth illustrative embodiments, in which the principles of the disclosure may be utilized, and the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of an archery dart frame of the current disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a front view of the archery dart frame shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the archery dart frame shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows one embodiment of an archery dart frame of the current disclosure being affixed to a target.

FIG. 5 shows the archery dart frame in place on the target.

The figures herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

Before the present disclosure is described in greater detail, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to particular embodiments described, and as such may, of course, vary. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.

Unless specifically stated, terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unless otherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposed to limiting. Likewise, a group of items linked with the conjunction “and” should not be read as requiring that each and every one of those items be present in the grouping, but rather should be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise. Similarly, a group of items linked with the conjunction “or” should not be read as requiring mutual exclusivity among that group, but rather should also be read as “and/or” unless expressly stated otherwise.

Furthermore, although items, elements or components of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated to be within the scope thereof unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated. The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “at least,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instances shall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or required in instances where such broadening phrases may be absent.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of the present disclosure, the preferred methods and materials are now described.

As will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reading this disclosure, each of the individual embodiments described and illustrated herein has discrete components and features which may be readily separated from or combined with the features of any of the other several embodiments without departing from the scope or spirit of the present disclosure. Any recited method can be carried out in the order of events recited or in any other order that is logically possible.

As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” include both singular and plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

The term “optional” or “optionally” means that the subsequent described event, circumstance or substituent may or may not occur, and that the description includes instances where the event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not.

Various embodiments are described hereinafter. It should be noted that the specific embodiments are not intended as an exhaustive description or as a limitation to the broader aspects discussed herein. One aspect described in conjunction with a particular embodiment is not necessarily limited to that embodiment and can be practiced with any other embodiment(s). Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” or “an example embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to a person skilled in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments. Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the disclosure. For example, in the appended claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

All patents, patent applications, published applications, and publications, databases, websites and other published materials cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as though each individual publication, published patent document, or patent application was specifically and individually indicated as being incorporated by reference.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a dart frame 100 of the current disclosure. In some exemplary embodiments, the dart frame 100 may be made from metal, plastics, synthetics, wood, etc. and has a perimeter 102. In some embodiments, the perimeter 102 is a circle. However, the perimeter 102 may be a variety of shapes. The dart frame 100 mimics the appearance of a dart board with bullseye 104 at center 105 of the dart board frame 100, inner scoring regions 106, outer scoring regions 108, inner ring scoring segment 110, and outer ring scoring segment 112. Dart frame 100 also includes penetrating legs 114. In some embodiments, the penetrating legs 114 may include end affixture members 116. In some embodiments, the penetrating legs 114 may have one or more length affixture members 118. The affixture members 116/118 may be curved fasteners, barbs, notches, claws, prongs, spikes, hooks, or any other suitable affixing structure that is configured to insert into a material and resist pulling force in the outward direction. Penetrating legs 114 may all have none or one or more end affixture members 116 and/or length affixture members 118.

This allows dart frame 100 to be “sank” into archery targets to create new ways or versions of the traditional darts game. The targets may have predefined scoring areas or “blank” backgrounds such as hay bales or animal shaped targets such as bear, deer, bison, elk, etc. This dart frame 100 gives users the ability to customize or create new styles of archery competitions.

Scoring regions 106 and 108 as well as scoring segments 110 and 112 may be created via using splines 120 and curved splines 122 to create distance between bullseye 104 and scoring regions 106 and 108 as well as to radially distance scoring segments 110 and 112. While dart frame 100 is shown with circular perimeter 102 having curved splines 122 forming concentric circles and splines 120 forming triangular inner scoring regions 106 trapezoidal outer scoring regions 108, the perimeter 102 is not so limited and may be square, animal shaped, irregularly shaped, or otherwise formed.

While only two scoring regions 106/108 and ring sections 110/112 are shown, more or less are envisioned within the scope of this disclosure such as 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more scoring regions 106/108 and ring sections 110/112. In one exemplary embodiment, the additional scoring regions may be produced by adding more splines 120/122. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the splines 120/122 may be changed to allow for larger, smaller, or inconsistently-sized scoring sections.

In some embodiments, penetrating legs 114 may have their distal end 124 sharpened or otherwise shaped to penetrate and affix dart frame 100 to a surface or background. In some embodiments, the penetrating legs 114 may include the sharpened distal end 124 with one or both of the end affixture members 116 and the leg affixture members 118,

FIG. 2 shows a front view of dart frame 100. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the perimeter 102 is circular. The splines 120 and the curved splines 122 form a pattern having a circular bullseye 104, triangular inner scoring regions 106, and trapezoidal outer scoring regions. In this exemplary embodiment, when the dart frame 100 is inserted into an archery target, it will result in a dart board design that can be used to play variations of the darts game with a bow and arrows instead of traditional darts. While arrows are disclosed, the current disclosure is not so limited and any projectile capable of being thrown may be employed with respect to these disclosure. Again, dart frame 100 may include a variety of shapes and arranged scoring areas and is not just limited to evenly divided score regions, but may also include irregularly shaped score areas such as alternating large and small areas, alternating random shapes such as an arrangement of geometric shapes with repeating or non repeating patters, etc.

FIG. 3 shows a side view of dart frame 100 illustrating the penetrating legs 114 extending perpendicularly from the perimeter 102 to a distal end 124. The affixture members 116/118 are also shown. In some embodiments, the penetrating legs 114 may have one end affixture member 116 secured to the distal ends 124 of each leg. In other embodiments, the penetrating legs 114 may have length affixture members 118 secured to or formed on a length or body portion of each leg.

In another exemplary embodiment, the affixture members 116/118 may be removably attached by the user. This allows a user to adjust or control the difficulty with which the dart frame 100 will insert into a target or be removed from the target.

In some exemplary embodiments, the penetrating legs 114 may not extend exactly 90 degrees from the perimeter 102. In some embodiments, the angle may be different to allow for use with different types or shapes of archery targets, such as in instances where the dart frame 100 is used with an animal target. Penetrating legs 114 may form acute angles with respect to perimeter 102 or obtuse angles to same. This allows for affixing dart frame 100 between possible two or more targets, such as a round or circular target. Further, other variations of game play may include avoiding the structure of dart frame 100 while hitting targets distanced from and behind dart frame 100 and/or targets that may not be affixed to dart frame 100.

FIG. 4 shows dart frame 100 being inserted into archery target 400 via insertion of penetrating legs 114 into archery target surface 402 to lodge penetrating legs 114, length affixture members 116, and/or end affixture members 118 into archery target interior 404 to secure dart frame 100 in place. Archery target 400 may have design 406 that cooperates with scoring regions 106/108 and/or ring scoring segments 110/112 such as by having colors, images, shading, etc. that helps players understand the metes and bounds of the scoring segments and sections during gameplay.

In some embodiments, design 406 may be an insert sold with the dart frame 100, such as a plastic or cardboard insert mimicking the appearance of a dart board in order to convert an unmarked surface into a dart board type surface for scoring purposes.

While archery target 400 is shown as a rounded platform, other embodiments of the dart frame 100 may be shaped to correspond and overlay any shaped target to enable gameplay on that surface. In one exemplary embodiment, the perimeter 102 of the dart frame 100 may be shaped to conform to an archery target comprising a bear body wherein dart frame 100 overlays the bear body over the chest or side, depending on the orientation of the bear body archery target. In another exemplary embodiment, the scoring regions 106/108 and the ring scoring segments 110/112 may be adjusted or reshaped to correspond to different target areas reflecting the location of different internal organs or body parts on an animal body.

FIG. 5 shows the dart frame 100 inserted into the archery target 400. The penetrating legs 114 are fully inserted into the archery target 400 resulting in the dart frame 100 being flush against the archery target surface 402. In embodiments having either end affixture members 116 or length affixture members 118 or both, the affixture members 116/118 are configured to resist the outward force that would be used to remove the dart frame 100 from the archery target 400.

An exemplary method of converting a standard archery target into a dart board or dart game includes:

First, providing an archery target. The archery target maybe a standard shape or a specialty target such as an animal.

Second, providing the archery dart frame 100 having a plurality of penetrating legs 114. The design or configuration of the archery dart frame 100 may vary to correspond to the type of archery target 400 that is used.

Third, the penetrating legs 114 of the archery dart frame 100 are placed against the archery target surface 402. Then, the penetrating legs 114 are inserted into the archery target 400 with little resistance. Once inserted, the affixture members 116/118 provide resistive force that holds and secures the dart frame 100 in place.

Any of the dart board frames described herein can be presented as a combination kit wherein the dart frame is accompanied by a background target such as an archery target, paper illustration of a dart board numbering system, animal target, etc. As used herein, the terms “combination kit” or “kit of parts” refers to the dart frame and any additional components that are used to package, sell, market, deliver the combination of elements. Such additional components include, but are not limited to, illustrations, packaging, darts, blister packages, and the like. The separate kit components can be contained in a single package or in separate packages within the kit.

In some embodiments, the combination kit also includes instructions printed on or otherwise contained in a tangible medium of expression. The instructions can provide information regarding the dart frame. In some embodiments, the instructions can provide directions, rules, and protocols for affixing the dart frame and playing games using same.

Various modifications and variations of the described devices, methods, and kits of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Although the disclosure has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it will be understood that it is capable of further modifications and that the disclosure as claimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. Indeed, various modifications of the described modes for carrying out the disclosure that are obvious to those skilled in the art are intended to be within the scope of the disclosure. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure come within known customary practice within the art to which the disclosure pertains and may be applied to the essential features herein before set forth. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A dart frame for converting a target into a dart board construct, the dart frame comprising: a perimeter having a shape; an outer ring scoring segment; at least one outer scoring region; an inner ring scoring segment; at least one inner scoring region; a bullseye; at least one penetrating leg, a proximal end of the at least one penetrating leg connected to the perimeter and extending a length substantially perpendicularly from the perimeter to a distal end; and at least one end affixture member located on the distal end of the at least one penetrating leg.
 2. The archery dart frame of claim 1, wherein the at least one end affixture member is configured to insert into the target and resist outward force that would remove the archery dart frame from the target.
 3. The archery dart frame of claim 1, further comprising at least one length affixture member located along the length of the at least one penetrating leg.
 4. The archery dart frame of claim 3, wherein the at least one length affixture member is configured to insert into the target and resist outward force that would remove the archery dart frame from the target.
 5. The archery dart frame of claim 1, further comprising at least one spline, the at least one spline configured to form the outer ring scoring segment, the at least one outer scoring region, the inner ring scoring segment, the at least one inner scoring regions, and the bullseye.
 6. An archery dart frame for converting a target into a dart board construct, the archery dart frame comprising: a perimeter having a shape; a plurality of splines, the plurality of splines configured to form a plurality of scoring sections within the perimeter; and a plurality of penetrating legs configured to insert the archery dart frame into the target.
 7. The archery dart frame of claim 6, further comprising a plurality of end affixture members, the end affixture members attached on a distal end of the plurality of penetrating legs.
 8. The archery dart frame of claim 7, wherein the plurality of end affixture members are configured to insert into the target and resist outward force that would remove the archery dart frame from the target.
 9. The archery dart frame of claim 6, further comprising a plurality of length affixture members, the plurality of length affixture members secured along the plurality of penetrating legs.
 10. The archery dart frame of claim 9, wherein the plurality of length affixture members are configured to insert into the target and resist outward force that would remove the archery dart frame from the target.
 11. The archery dart frame of claim 6, further comprising a distal end of the plurality of penetrating legs sharpened to insert into the target.
 12. The archery dart frame of claim 6, wherein the shape of the perimeter is an outline of an animal.
 13. The archery dart frame of claim 6, further comprising the plurality of scoring sections includes: a plurality of inner scoring regions; a plurality of outer scoring regions; a plurality of inner ring scoring segments; a plurality of outer ring scoring segments; and a bullseye.
 14. A method for converting a target into a dart board, the method comprising: providing a target; providing a dart board frame; affixing at least one penetrating leg to a perimeter of the dart board frame; attaching at least one affixture member to the at least one penetrating leg; aligning the dart board frame over a desired section of the target; inserting the at least one penetrating leg into the target until the dart board frame is substantially flush against a surface of the target.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising playing a game of darts via launching at least one projectile into various locations defined on the dart board frame.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising where different locations on the dart board frame are assigned different values.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprising wherein the dart board frame is configured to provide at least one group of substantially identical target areas at a distance from a center of the dart board frame.
 18. The method of claim 14, further comprising wherein the dart board frame is configured to provide at least one group of targets possessing at least two different shapes at a distance from a center of the dart board frame.
 19. The method of claim 14, further comprising wherein both substantially identical target areas and at least one group of targets possessing at least two different shapes are defined at a distance from a center of the dart board frame. 